


Linkterest

by fms_fangirl



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Hidden Feelings, M/M, Male Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-08
Updated: 2015-05-08
Packaged: 2018-03-29 13:01:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3897292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fms_fangirl/pseuds/fms_fangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhett gets a look at Link's Pinterest page.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Linkterest

Rhett stretched and yawned. It had been a long day and a demanding week. The Ice Bath Challenge had made for a terrific episode, but it had occupied a lot space in his head during the days preceding it and, even a few days later, he felt drained by the experience. At least all of the week’s episodes were taped; tomorrow would be spent on the business end of Mythical Entertainment. Sometimes he missed the idea of simply shooting the breeze with his buddy while the camera rolled; sometimes he looked around their new space and increasing staff and wondered how this had all happened, but he considered himself the luckiest person he knew. He enjoyed a certain amount of fame and success, material comfort with the promise of real wealth in the near future and, most important, he shared it all with his best friend.

Suddenly, Link appeared and broke into his thoughts. “I just got a call from Christy,” he said. He was pale and worried. “I have to go. Lando fell and hit his head. I need to meet her at the Emergency Room.”

“Of course. Get going.” He leapt from his chair and followed Link to the door. “What did she say?”

“She doesn’t think it’s really serious, but she said there’s a lot of blood.” He looked faintly queasy. “I don’t know how much use I’ll be.”

“You’ll be fine,” Rhett assured him as he climbed into his car. “You didn’t pass out when Lincoln got that fish hook in his head. Now, get going and let me know how he is. I’ll get Jessie to pick me up later.”

He returned to his office, but found it difficult to concentrate; he loved Link’s kids like his own and couldn’t relax until he received a text about an hour later. Lando was fine; just a nasty bump that required a few stitches. He had an impressively gross wound that he couldn’t wait to show off to Locke and Shepherd. He passed the message on to the team, who were equally relieved and returned to work.

As the day drew to a close, he gave Jessie a call, asking her to pick him up in half an hour and shut down his computer. Passing by Link’s desk, he saw his laptop was still on. He’d save anything he had been working on and shut it down he thought. They had one another’s passwords for just such occasions. He’d closed several screens when he noticed that there was still one session running. He clicked on the tab and realized that he had stumbled upon Link’s Pinterest page.

Rhett had wondered about it once or twice and had teased Link on a few occasions, but he certainly wasn’t going to look at it. He wasn’t even going to glance at it, he thought. It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t help but notice he had several boards. It wasn’t snooping when he read the names of these boards – they were plain as day: Mountain Bike Trails, Vacation Ideas, DIY Projects and Cleaning Tips. He chuckled at that one. He had just moved the pointer over the X in the corner, ready to close the program when one board caught his eye: R + L. Quashing his uneasiness by telling himself that if Link wanted it to be private, he shouldn’t be fooling around on Pinterest at work, he clicked.

He wasn’t sure what he had expected: a few screenshots, maybe pictures that Link had pinned for episode ideas or a couple of silly GIFs. What he didn’t expect was to see his own image staring back at him, repeated dozens of times. Pictures of himself smiling, laughing, frowning or looking serious. Images captured from You Tube, photographs and GIFs. Link appeared in fewer than half of them, but in every one they were touching, holding hands or hugging. Here was their kiss through the plexiglass, there his hand rested on Link’s shoulder and over and over Link, grasping his hand when blindfolded during the Trust Exercises, reaching for him as he writhed in distress after eating the Carolina Reaper, clutching his hands while trapped in the snake tank and after the Ice Bath.

Stunned, he leaned back in the chair and shifted uncomfortably. He could feel himself growing warm as feelings, crushed ruthlessly for years, assailed him. Yearnings that he had almost made himself believe didn’t exist, he had denied them so stubbornly.

Shutting down Link’s computer, Rhett gathered his things and left the studio to wait for Jessie out front.

“You’re very quiet,” she said on the drive home.

“I’ve got a bit of a headache,” he fibbed. It wasn’t entirely untrue; his head was definitely whirling, but he managed to put his thoughts aside while he ate supper and spent the evening with his family. Once the boys were in bed and Jessie was curled up on the couch, watching a movie, they started again.

Could he sit next to Link in the car tomorrow morning, knowing what he did? Could he ever touch him casually again? Could they work together, make videos together, just hang out together with the knowledge coursing through him that Link fought the same longings? What would this do to their friendship, their business, their lives? He wished he’d never snooped, but, at the same time, he felt consumed by a joy so fierce he was almost trembling.

Jessie’s laughter at some antics on the screen brought him back to earth with a thud.

“Are you even watching?” she complained. “Is your head still bothering you?”

“No, it isn’t. I’ve just got things on my mind.” He knew she wouldn’t press him to talk about it; that was one of the reasons he loved her so much. It was time to put this foolishness behind him.

“Do you remember that joke you made right after we moved to California?” he asked. “You know, when you said that you and Christy had been talking and you said that you both felt like Link and I were fooling around on each other with you two sometimes.” He waited for her to laugh, so he could join in and dismiss the ideas that were running around his brain as momentary madness.

Jessie’s face became very still and she turned off the television. “You mean when I said we’d agreed that if you two ever got together, it wouldn’t count as cheating.” She wasn’t smiling as she said it.

“Yes.”

Silence hung heavy between them for several moments. “I wasn’t joking,” she said in a low voice, “and neither was Christy.”

“You wouldn’t mind?”

She patted the empty seat on the couch next to her. As he joined her, she took his hand and said, “Rhett, I’ve been expecting to have this conversation for years. I can’t exactly say I don’t mind, but… it will be okay.”

“You know I love you,” he said, putting his arm around her. “You and the boys. And you know I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder. “I know.”

He passed a restless night, but was filled with nervous energy the following morning. For Jessie’s sake, he tried to restrain himself as much as possible, but he felt like a teenager about to go on his first date when Link’s car pulled into his drive.

“Don’t worry if you’re going to be late tonight,” Jessie said with a smile that trembled only a little. “I thought I’d give Christy a call. Maybe we can organize a sleepover and have a girls’ night in.”

Rhett hugged her hard. “You’re the best,” he whispered before snatching up his bag and heading out the door.

Link did most of the talking on the drive, telling Rhett how there were almost two patients while he watched the doctor stitch up Lando’s wound.

Finally, just as Link backed into their parking space, he laid his hand on his friend’s and said, “I have a confession to make.”

“You do? What?”

“I looked at your Pinterest page.”

Link stared at his hand, resting on his own for a moment. Lifting his other hand, he rested it against Rhett’s cheek and smiled. “Let’s talk about that.”


End file.
